Comments Thread For: Hearn: Joshua is Fighting in The UK, The Ball in Wilder's Court

[OldTerry]

Walk into a London pub and say what you just said, you’ll quickly learn about hiding and running.

We Americans know how you rowdy drunken British fools like to fight - ten guys against one. By the way in America we play real football and not sissy soccer.

[OldTerry]

So, what's wrong with AJ choosing to whatever he wants? Put yourself in AJ's shoes, he's already made enough money he never has to fight again. He has already become one of the fastest (least fights) unified HW champs in history. He has adoring fans on his doorstep, he's very very famous in his own country, front page news, not buried in the back pages and on lifestyle TV, he's mainstream in the UK.

If I was AJ I'd call the shots, no one is stripping me unless I avoid my mandatories, the only people calling me names are a bunch of Americans whose opinion doesn't really matter to me, I still make $15m+ in my next fight against whoever helps me keep my belts.

Americans constantly say, 'yeah but he could make $50m instead of $15m'...but you can apply the same logic to Wilder travelling to the UK, he'd make a ton more travelling than he ever has before. There isn't a here or villain in all this.

Your right! The name of the boxing game today seems to be to maximize revenue while minimizing risks. That doesn't sit to well with the die hard boxing fan side of me but the business man in me understands.

[hitking]

Seriously, who gives a **** about the live gate? If the fans want to sit in row z then let them. The reason for fighting in a stadium is to give the normal guy on the street the opportunity to see a historic fight rather than that opportunity only being available to Vegas VIP's.

What you're missing is that the stadium gives ordinary working class people a chance to see their guy fight! If AJ fought in an arena, say the O2, then either the tickets would costs far in excess of what average fans could afford, or the touts would make a killing and again, only the very rich could attend.

Boxing is largely a working class sport here in the UK and it's important that the people who helped these boxers get to where they currently are aren't cut out just as they get successful.

So people can compare gates and find that yes, 10,000 high rollers in Vegas can generate more funds than 90k in a stadium in London, but that's only part of the story.

And yes, the view will suck and you'll watch it on the big screen. That's the same if you want to watch the Rolling Stones. The point is being there, alongside thousands of others and enjoying the atmosphere, which will be streets ahead of that Vegas crowd, some of whom will only be there because a conference was in town that weekend and some guy they're doing business with got them a ticket.

I’m far from rich. But, I attend a couple fights a year. And for me, that means I have to travel. Because boxing isn’t popular where I’m from. And if I’m a hop a plane, pay for a hotel, and fork out all the bread that it costs to spend a weekend in a big city on a fight weekend. I damn sure ain’t gonna be sitting somewhere in the arena that requires me to watch the fight on a big screen. I got a several big screens in my house that I can watch it on for a helluva lot cheaper. And I can watch those without several drunken idiots around me annoying me.

[hitking]

Canelo vs Trout wasn't at a stadium. I was there it was in San Antonio at the Alamo Dome.

Oops, I thought the Alamo Dome was a stadium.

[OldTerry]

Wilder has said many times in the past that he would be willing to go to the UK to fight AJ. Everything else is settled. The only thing stopping the fight from happening is where the fight takes place. If Wilder really wants to fight AJ as badly as he claims he should fight him in the UK. AJ is obviously not going to fight Wilder in the USA. The ball really is in Wilder's court. He can go to the UK and try to take AJ's belts or stay home and continue to be the WBC champion only. If Wilder does fight AJ in the UK he should demand a neutral referee. Judges probably won't matter in a fight so unlikely to go the full 12 rounds.

Wilder needs a referee similar to the one he had in the Ortiz fight. What I mean by that is one who will not quickly stop the fight if someone is in trouble. Wilder needs that because AJ will rock him but he can weather the storm and come back. No way this fight goes the distance.

[Holler]

I’m far from rich. But, I attend a couple fights a year. And for me, that means I have to travel. Because boxing isn’t popular where I’m from. And if I’m a hop a plane, pay for a hotel, and fork out all the bread that it costs to spend a weekend in a big city on a fight weekend. I damn sure ain’t gonna be sitting somewhere in the arena that requires me to watch the fight on a big screen. I got a several big screens in my house that I can watch it on for a helluva lot cheaper. And I can watch those without several drunken idiots around me annoying me.

Fair enough! It's not for you. To be honest I'm not a big fan of watching live boxing that way either. Given the choice between sat up in a stadium tier I'd sooner go to a small venue, even if the fight itself isn't a top level one. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate that many fellow fans do want to be there, regardless of the view. It also makes for a great tv spectacle for the audiences watching the broadcast. Nothing illustrates the stakes involved better than a crowd of nearly 100,000 people.

I'm not suggesting you start attending stadium fights, just pointing out that there's more factors involved than the total gate they generate.

[Manlikefemi]

Maybe there is something you don't understand when you present boxing to be a nicely tucked niche sport only the true aficionados of boxing know of. It is laughable. And even if we imagine that it is like that today in the HW division, that is not because this is a typical boxing culture in the US like you are trying to insinuate, but because Wilder is just unknown.

I bet that GGG is more known to an average Joe from the street than Wilder. Conduct the poll and put your "niche" ideas to the test.

Golvokin averages 800K Viewership in the US. Out of a population of 350M People this is garbage, Boxing is a Niche Sport in the US. Canelo is the dying hope and the last Mexican Fighter with that fanbase.

[Manlikefemi]

Your right! The name of the boxing game today seems to be to maximize revenue while minimizing risks. That doesn't sit to well with the die hard boxing fan side of me but the business man in me understands.

How is he maximising revenue ? He is taking a pay cut for himself and Wilder just because he does not want to fight in Vegas. Eventhough it would benefit him 10X more. Joshua wont ever leave the Uk, he's protected and secure their. Shame, he had a chance to bring the HW Division back into the Mainstream but sadly he has adopted the Klitschko Robotic style and European fever.

[Manlikefemi]

I'd be interested in seeing you explain exactly how Wilder, who made approx $2m in his last fight is taking a pay cut to fight Anthony Joshua? Being that he's already turned down a guaranteed $12.5m and is currently sitting on a better offer?

You may argue that Wilder would make more if the fight was in the US, but the possibility of earning more is not the same as being asked to take a pay cut? The reality is that this fight will make Wilder many, many times more than he's ever seen before. That's primarily because of the profile of his opponent and the multiple belts he brings to the table.

If AJ gives him a fight Wilder gets a massive, massive, pay rise. Fact.

AJ and Wilder ARE both taking a pay cut, because AJ does not want to go the US. Which is his choice and he has the right to do so, so yes Wilder is suffering a pay cut because of it. Wilder Joshua in Vegas would be a International Event, however it's going to be wasted in the small hub of the UK, Joshua has adopted the Klitschko style and HW Divison is going to get boring again. Wilder needs to knock him the f out to save us for another 10 years of Klitschko.2

[sportbuddha]

We Americans know how you rowdy drunken British fools like to fight - ten guys against one. By the way in America we play real football and not sissy soccer.

Ever heard of rugby and rugby league? Chuck those 'sissy' pads away and have a go at that instead lol. Btw: the thing about pubs was in response to a thread where one of your countryman was pretty insulting about the average Brits softness, I was merely suggesting he take that opinion to a London pub and see how that goes, I am generally one of the more balanced posters on this forum, but calling Londoners soft is like calling a New Yorker meek.